Pasadena Mayor Disputes Attorney General’s Claims, Says City Is Complying With State Housing Law

Pasadena Mayor Victor M. Gordo released a letter to Pasadena residents Friday disputing California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s claims that Pasadena is in violation of Senate Bill 9, a housing law passed by the Legislature in 2021.

“It is important that I communicate and provide the supporting documentation, directly to our residents who are entitled to know that the City of Pasadena is not in violation of SB 9 as wrongfully asserted by the Attorney General,” Gordo said.

In Bonta’s March 16 letter, the Attorney General alleged that the City of Pasadena adopted an urgency ordinance in December designed to circumvent Senate Bill 9.

Bonta said Pasadena’s ordinance prohibits the development of SB 9 in landmark districts but the bill itself does not allow for such a prohibition — only for landmarks, historic properties, or historic districts.

The City should repeal and/or amend the ordinance within 30 days, Bonta wrote. He did not say what would happen if the city failed to repeal or amend its ordinance.

But Gordo said in fact the city’s ordinance is in full compliance with SB-9.

“We believe that the allegations that Pasadena violated SB 9 by excluding its landmark districts from SB 9 are wrong, as supported by the statute and legislative history,” Gordo said.

“The Attorney General in our view simply has it wrong,” Gordo said in an earlier interview.

“Despite leading the way in developing affordable housing and determining to
comply with SB 9 while protecting certain unique architecture as SB 9 specifically provides, the City is accused of egregious violations and bad intent,” Gordo said.

“It has even been suggested that we are considering declaring the entirety of Pasadena an historic or landmark district. This is simply untrue.”

The city currently has 23 designated landmark districts as well as 20 historic districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

SB 9 mandates local agencies must approve certain subdivisions of one single-family residential lot into two without discretionary review and requires local agencies approve proposed two-unit development projects on lots in a single-family residential zone without discretionary review.

Critics of SB 9 claim the bill will lead to the destruction of single-family housing and that it will have a negative on impact Black and Brown communities.

Supporters of SB 9 say it will help solve the state’s growing housing crisis.

Alluding to Tweets issued by Bonta, Gordo encouraged the Attorney General to get to know Pasadena before “wrongfully and unfairly” disparaging the city’s good name on Twitter.

“By now,” Gordo pointed out, “we should all understand that governance by Twitter is ineffective.”

Along with his letter to the residents of Pasadena, Gordo provided the city’s formal response to Attorney General Bonta as well as a detailed legal response from City Attorney Michele Beal Bagneris.

Following are the documents in full:

Pasadena Mayor and City Response to AG Bonta